Thinning Thoughts & Safe Havens
by Pride-of-Slytherin2
Summary: A series of drabbles for the Becoming a Wizard Challenge. After Ginny Weasley decides to go on a diet, she discovers her usual hang-outs aren't very diet friendly.
1. Potion bottle bottoms

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for **Petunia's Chores 1  
**

- Chore 6: wash, ironing and folding the clothes - **write using the prompt "clothes"**  
**  
**

* * *

Ginny huffed in frustration as she discarded yet another top to the floor. She'd tried on three skirts, six tops, two dresses, a pair of shorts and four pairs of jeans, in Merlin only knew how many combinations, but everything looked awful.

She tried to avoid looking in the mirror as she bent over half-dressed to pick up her fail-safe top. Slipping it on over her skinny jeans, she felt vaguely attractive for the first time. A low cut tunic top, it hinted at a cleavage while hiding her stomach, hips and thighs.

She turned sideways to look at herself and sighed. She'd always known she had big hips - Molly was always happy to point how much of a blessing they'd be when she had children. She could have lived with the hips themselves, but whilst her mum was curvy up top to balance it out – well, Ginny wasn't. She decided she rather resembled one of those pretentious potion bottles – wide at the bottom. And where the heck had her pudgy thighs and a flabby stomach come from?

As she looked at herself from yet another angle, she resolved that from now on, Ginny Weasley was on a diet.


	2. Poor Intentions

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for **Petunia's Chores 1  
**

- Chore 2: cooking the meals** - ****write using the prompt "food"**

* * *

Ginny stared at the food on the table, trying desperately to convince herself she didn't want it. Trying to remind herself of the sugar in that strawberry jam, the chocolate spread, the hot cross buns. Telling herself that the bacon, sausages and croissants were full of fat – fat that would spread to her stomach and her thighs, jiggling as she walked.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as her stomach rumbled. No matter how much she tried to convince herself she didn't want the food, no matter how badly she wanted to be thin, she was finding it really hard not to eat. She hadn't even skipped any meals yet – her diet resolution had come after dinner last night, and it was only breakfast the following morning, but already her resolve was crumbling!

She squeezed her hands together under the table, repeating 34, 32, 40, over and over in her head. She hadn't been able to find any scales last night, but she had found a measuring tape, left in her wardrobe from her short-lived dreams of fashion designing. Those were her measurements – 34, 32, 40.

She squeezed her hands together tighter, but it just wasn't working. She knew plenty of girls who lived off one meal a day for a few days before a big party, and she'd heard stories of girls who lived that way for months. She knew it wasn't healthy, but she just wanted something to kick-start her diet. A quick result to keep her motivated, to at least get rid of the worst of her tummy and her chafing thighs. No matter how badly she wanted it though, she just couldn't seem to do it. She found her thoughts coming back to the food, over and over and over again. She wanted a fry up...no wait, she wanted hot cross buns, no, she wanted toast with real butter...

What it came down to, she thought glumly, was that she wanted everything. She wanted to be able to eat the greasy breakfasts, the sweets, the cakes, the chocolate and the crisps. She wanted to go to a party and drink beer and shots and eat pizza – and she wanted to look hot doing it. Sobered by that thought, she helped herself to some fruit and a single slice of toast.

An acceptable start, she decided, on her goal to get a little thinner every day...


	3. The Great Hall

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for ******The First Breath Into the Wizarding World**

- **Five Drabbles, all containing some reference to the scenery.  
**  
Also for the Represent that Character challenge****

* * *

Ginny was rapidly becoming to hate the Great Hall. When she remembered she was trying to lose weight, the Great Hall was agonising temptation, and an ever-present reminder of her lack of control. Whether it was bulging breakfasts, lavish lunches, sumptuous suppers or delicious desserts, the Great Hall had a knack for throwing off her motivation. And when her motivation failed...well, the tables were filled with an assortment of delicious treats that she inevitably gorged on and then felt guilty for eating.

Before her diet, the Great Hall had been one of her favourite places. She loved the long tables, the Head's table, the windows and the beautiful, ever-changing ceiling. Although they occasionally had study sessions there, she mostly associated the Great Hall with relaxing. Breaks from classes, lazy Sunday morning breakfasts, the end of a long day... She'd always loved settling in with a big meal and her friends to catch up on the gossip, but now, the Great Hall was a place of endless anxiety.

Even the pre-Quidditch breakfasts were no longer as fun as they used to be. While before she'd enthusiastically tuck into a big fry up to keep her fuelled for the game, now she couldn't help but think the food would go straight to her thighs. As she sat at today's, she reluctantly piled her plate with her usual breakfast feast – it wouldn't do for her to play poorly because she hadn't eaten enough, and there was no way the rest of the team wouldn't notice if she started changing her eating habits. She ate slowly, hoping to get away with eating less simply by wasting time, and vowed to herself that tomorrow would be better.


	4. Locker Room

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for ******The First Breath Into the Wizarding World**

- **Five Drabbles, all containing some reference to the scenery.  
**  
Also for the Represent that Character challenge

* * *

Despite her new-found dislike of the Great Hall, Ginny had decided she'd found somewhere even worse – the Girls' Locker room. Why was it, she wondered, that in every locker room or shared bathroom, there were a few girls who seemed more than happy to wander around half-dressed? Or less?

Even in her pre-diet days, Ginny had never really felt comfortable undressing in front of the others, preferring always to try and keep herself covered by the pillars, by hanging her robes up in front of her, by sitting on the benches to get dressed. Maybe it was because growing up in a house full of older brothers, privacy had been a necessity. But whilst before she felt a little strange changing in the open locker room, she was becoming more and more anxious about it. Were the other girls looking at her body? Judging her weight gain? She had to admit to herself that it seemed likely – she knew she'd occasionally sneak peeks at their bodies, wishing she could steal certain features of theirs.

Ginny rushed through changing today, wishing she could find a way to be less uncomfortable with the others – and more comfortable with herself.


	5. Potions

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for ******The First Breath Into the Wizarding World**

- **Five Drabbles, all containing some reference to the scenery.  
**  
Also for the Represent that Character challenge 

* * *

When Monday morning rolled around, Ginny reluctantly headed down to the dungeons. She wasn't sure which sadist had decided to schedule double Potions for first thing on a Monday, but that person deserved to be given to the giant squid. She headed into the cold room, ignoring the usual cauldrons, supplies, and the occasional spill. As she placed her book onto her desk in the back row, she couldn't quite stifle a yawn.

"Rough night, Weasel?" Pansy asked neutrally.

Ginny hesitated before answering. The only thing she enjoyed about Potions usually was her and Pansy's incessant needling of each other. The usual Slytherin-Gryffindor pairings meant Ginny had ended up partnered with Pansy, and while she couldn't stand the Slytherin herself, Ginny did at least enjoy their verbal sparring.

"Just didn't sleep well." Ginny responded eventually.

"Up late worrying about money?" Pansy asked smirking.

"No, of course not," Ginny snapped back, on slightly more sure-footing now that Pansy was back to her usual bitchy self.

"Fantasising about someone inappropriate then?" Pansy asked slyly, flicking her long dark curls over her shoulder.

"What?" Ginny asked angrily, feeling her confidence disappear.

"Well, you didn't sleep well, and yet you look **slightly **less terrible than usual this morning, so you must be doing something right. You obviously weren't out _actually_ getting any, but maybe a few Slytherin fantasies were enough to perk you up..." Pansy trailed off suggestively.

Ginny could feel herself blushing, instantly furious with her fair skin for showing her embarrassment. Ever so occasionally Pansy's pestering would turn faintly suggestive, and Ginny never knew how to cope with it. Most frustratingly of all though, the Slytherin seemed to thrive on Ginny's discomfort.

"I wonder who it could have been...Malfoy perhaps?" Pansy said, watching her closely.

Ginny cursed her skin, knowing that Pansy would take any reaction from her as an agreement, but the longer Pansy scrutinised her, the redder Ginny seemed to turn. She sighed and inspected the Potions bottles on the walls, trying to pretend she wasn't embarrassed. She examined the room, looking for something, anything to distract Pansy with... Otherwise, it was going to be a very long lesson.


	6. Pansy's Retreat

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for ******The First Breath Into the Wizarding World**

- **Five Drabbles, all containing some reference to the scenery.  
**  
Also for the Represent that Character challenge

* * *

There were a lot of things people would probably never guess about Pansy Parkinson, but she was pretty sure that her favourite place in Hogwarts was one of them. She knew what people would say if asked to guess her favourite place. The Slytherin common room would be top of the list of course, but there were bound to be a few witty people who'd guess Draco's room, or Blaise's. Maybe a few of the more perceptive would guess Daphne's room.

But she was pretty sure no one would guess her favourite retreat. Occasionally, she wanted a break from having to be constantly clever, and witty, and cutting, and the rule of silence meant no one could talk to her, giving her a blessed chance to switch off.

People always seemed to think too, that their hushed conversations would be secret; that their whispers wouldn't carry through the silence. _Fools. _Some of her best gossip had come from sitting in this room, listening in to dense students stupid enough to think no one was listening. Sometimes she'd settle in to a slightly hidden away desk near a corner table and wait to see who'd arrive. Sometimes she'd deliberately place herself near a particular group who were already sat there – a couple rumoured to be having issues, the Golden Trio, students she wanted blackmail ideas for...

Setting aside the gossip mining though, Pansy really loved the whole room. The labyrinthine layout and the floor-to-ceiling shelves combined to make the room feel cosy, despite the huge dimensions. She loved running her hand along the shelves, fingernails pulling over the spines. She loved looking at the books; all different heights, thicknesses, colours and materials. She loved settling into a deserted corner, picking out a story and getting lost in it.

No, Pansy was pretty sure no one would guess her favourite place in Hogwarts was actually the library.


	7. Quidditch Pitch

Written for the Becoming a Wizard challenge, for ******The First Breath Into the Wizarding World**

- **Five Drabbles, all containing some reference to the scenery.  
**  
Also for the Represent that Character challenge

* * *

One place Ginny felt truly comfortable was the Quidditch Pitch. Flying was something she was truly good at, something she could get lost in. She imagined it was sort of the same way Hermione felt when she was reading...but better. Where Hermione had to get lost in someone else's world, Ginny could get lost in her own. She could see people she knew as tiny figures below her, look over the beautiful Hogwarts grounds, and know it was her own skill at flying that made it possible. She didn't need to dream of being someone powerful, because when she was flying she was powerful.

Soaring up, up, up Ginny surveyed the ground below her, and smiled. When she flew so high up above everyone else, she could be anyone. Fat or thin, tall or short, blonde or red, no one down there would be able to tell – all anyone would know from looking at her, was that she was a spectacular flier. Up here, her problems seemed so tiny.

Looking at her home, spread out in miniature below her, Ginny knew this was where she truly belonged.


End file.
